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Tag Archives: Murder in Successville

Sticking to the topic of TV, there are two shows on iPlayer at the moment that I strongly recommend checking out. The first is Frankie Boyle’s Election Autopsy, filmed at Wilton’s Music Hall with analytic/comedic help from guests Katherine Ryan and Sara Pascoe. To my friends reading outside the UK: Boyle is a divisive figure, his comedy is dark and uncompromising, cynical and challenging but he is also very funny and incisive, especially to those with a liberal/libertarian bent. Let me put it this way: if you have ever voluntarily listened to a Michael Buble album and haven’t vomited up your spleen, his comedy is probably not for you. If you find the world an often bewildering, hypocritical and ailing place he may be for you. His is dark lampooning for dark, bizarre times. Watch for the closing diatribe on Tory voters that leaves the audience unsure and uncomfortable.

On a lighter note, Murder in Successville is one of the silliest and therefore funniest things I have ever seen on TV. It is the surreal brainchild of 6’7″ comic hulk Tom Davis, a man reminiscent of Matt Berry blown up to 200% scale. Davis plays DI Sleet, a hard-boiled if hapless detective in Successville, a fictional metropolis populated by twisted versions of celebrities played by impressionist comic actors (Sleet’s boss is a whiny, petulant take on Gordon Ramsey). Each week, a celebrity is immersed in this world to solve a murder of a “celebrity”. They have no idea what to expect and their reactions to the bonkers world Davis has concocted is where a lot of the comedy comes from. The first episode featured Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing and made me weak in the belly with laughter. It would be pointless to try and describe it – I attempted with a friend who usually has a similar sense of humour to me only to be met with a look of bemusement bordering on alarm. I expect she thought I’d finally lost it when I tried to paint the scene of Davis and Laing tied together on chairs attempting to get to a plate of cheese.

The latest episode featured Dragon Deborah Meaden, who was surprisingly hilarious. Despite a gigantic disparity in stature, Meaden immediately took control and treated Davis like an errant buffoon with impressive deadpanning. Basically, please watch this. Davis is a comic colossus.